Mar 17, 2018
Highlights from Eric’s “drone school”
seen from South Korea
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Malaysia
seen from Türkiye
seen from Malaysia
seen from United States
seen from Malaysia
seen from Netherlands
seen from Morocco
seen from Malaysia
seen from Russia
seen from Malaysia
seen from Türkiye
seen from Mexico
seen from Türkiye
seen from United States
seen from Türkiye
seen from China
seen from Türkiye
Highlights from Eric’s “drone school”
Finished our week with a tour of the Altun Ha Mayan ruin site and a visit to the Belize zoo. Feeling grateful for all the kind and interesting people we connected with this week.
These are our friends Katherine, Sara and Eric (our chaperone scientist) walking back from one of our meals at the homestay. Sara and Katherine are PhD students studying manatees at their base in Mexico just across Corozal Bay. This trip helped establish an international collaboration for research and monitoring of manatees in this shared bay.
During our delicious meals together of beans, fried bread, and the occasional hotdog, they kept us entertained with their solid English and even better laughs. Not to mention Katherine’s extensive knowledge and enthusiasm for manatee poopoo. A unanimous highlight of boat day #2 was Katherine’s ecstatic dance moves after having scooped up a floating manatee turd (a rare find). Integral to her research, manatee poop can say a lot about the diet, metabolism, and general health of its producer. This week has set the stage for Belize and Mexico to work together in the protection of this endangered species for years to come. We are so lucky to have spent this week with them and are excited to see where this partnership takes us in the future. (Written by Julia Gatewood)
Recognize someone??? We spotted “Beaver”! Dolphins can be identified by the scarring patterns on their dorsal fins
This finding means that the dolphins here are residents, which has implications on strategies for their protection and management.
We found dolphins!!! Springing into action, we got hydrophones into the water to record their sounds and the photographers snapped photos of their dorsal fins so we can identify individuals. Another busy and great day on the boat 🐬
Successfully deployed both BRUVs off the boat today! These student-built underwater cameras can help track and monitor fish populations in Corozal Bay
When you break your BRUV, just design a new one! Meet the BRUVmini
Today we paired up with the Sarteneja Alliance for Conservation and Development (SACD) to survey the river for manatees and use the drone to map habitat. We enjoyed the view of mangroves and spotted frigate birds and herons along the way